Tercel overheating when I DON'T rev the engine

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scotisha
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Location: Victoria, BC

Tercel overheating when I DON'T rev the engine

Post by scotisha »

Hi,

So I am having a weird issue where if I am not driving or revving the engine the temp shoots way up. I think that it is related to the battery and how much juice it is outputting (I clued in that this might be the issue when I noticed the lights dim when I got to a stop). Would this be a battery issue or an alternator issue? I looked at the battery and there is some corrosion on the terminals but would that reduce the effectiveness of the battery? Just time for a new battery then?

Thanks

S
Driver: '86 4wd Tercel Wagon
Fun: '98 BMW M3 sedan

Now I have the best of both worlds!
scotisha
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Posts: 234
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2006 9:07 pm
Location: Victoria, BC

Re: Tercel overheating when I DON'T rev the engine

Post by scotisha »

Or after doing some searching, could be the water pump or the rad hose. I will check those when i get home
Driver: '86 4wd Tercel Wagon
Fun: '98 BMW M3 sedan

Now I have the best of both worlds!
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Tercel overheating when I DON'T rev the engine

Post by Petros »

that is not related to the battery, it is normal for lights to go dim at idle since the alternator is usually below the batter voltage. if the lights go bright when you rev the engine, it means the alternator is working correctly.

It is not likely related to running the engine slow, it is more likely that you are stopped and no air is flowing through the radiator. check the function of the radiator fan, and the fan switch or sensor (it is at the bottom of the radiator next to the lower rad hose).

try this: when you are at a stand still and the temp starts to rise, turn on the heater fan with temp selector to hot/high. if the temp comes down, you have limited cooling capacity. Either rad fan not coming on, or radiator is not cooling the engine due to built up inside of it.

good luck.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
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My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Tercel overheating when I DON'T rev the engine

Post by ARCHINSTL »

One more thing, and possibly/probably unrelated, but you might as well check -
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6915&hilit=leaves
For that matter, while Goldie's previous life was outside Nashville, youse guys in the PacNWST seem to be subject to trees weeping all sorts of detritus.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
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